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Sample assignment

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This assignment assumes that you have had prior instruction on the English system of measurement and the SI (Metric) system of measurement.

The Measurers

This web site is from the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, England. You will see how important measurement was to the medieval Flemish society by exploring the painting entitled, "The Measurers." The Flemish units of measure for weight, volume, etc., are described.

A Dictionary of Units

This web site will guide you through the SI system and its correlation to the English system of measurement.

Introduction

One of the most important activities of science is measurement. Measurement is a means of quantifying properties for identification. For example, density is the relationship between the mass and volume of a pure substance. One could determine if a piece of yellow metal is gold by determining its density. Measurement allows scientists to make comparisons. Measurement also provides a means by which scientists can judge the reproducibility of experimental procedure. However, measurement is not an activity that is restricted to scientists. Every age and every culture in the world has developed a measurement system. Measurement is as old as an ancient Egyptian using a cubit unit to measure the height of a pyramid. It is as new as a programmer using a Megabyte unit to indicate the memory capacity of computer software.

Instructions for the Explorations

Follow the link named The Measurers under "Resources" to examine a Web site from the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, England. You will see how important measurement was to the medieval Flemish society by exploring the painting entitled, "The Measurers." As you read about the various kinds of measuring devices and methods portrayed in the painting, pay particular attention to the description of the Flemish units of measure for weight, volume, etc.

Modern science uses the Système Internationale (SI) as its measurement system. The Web site, A Dictionary of Units, will guide you through the SI system and its correlation to the English system of measurement. Make sure that you are able to convert units within and between the SI and English measurement systems.

When you have completed the explorations and are able to answer all of the questions suggested in the "Guidance for Writing your Text", return to this page and continue with the writing assignment.

Something to think about: The SI measurement system was officially adopted for use in the scientific community in 1960. Prior to that most measurements intended for scientific purposes were expressed in Metric units. Given the wide variety of measuring systems in the world, why did the scientific community choose SI as their preferred measurement system?

Write a grammatically correct essay of the required length that defends the use of the SI measurement system in science. The essay should integrate the issues raised by the guiding questions. Be sure to compare and contrast SI to at least one other measurement system within the body of the text. Give at least three reasons for the use of the SI system in science.

Note: Formatting from word processors is NOT preserved when you copy and paste into the text box below. Click on the"Formatting Help" button to learn how to easily format your essay with subscripts and superscripts, as well as line returns and paragraphs.

ALWAYS check your formatting by using the "Preview Text" button before you submit your work. This will show you exactly how your text will appear to reviewers.

Measurement is extremely important to both everyday human interaction and to scientific research. Measurement is used to facilitate the exchange of goods and services. Countries adopt specific measurement systems to make it easier for commercial transactions to take place between communities. Measurement is the basis of much of science, where phenomena are observed, analyzed, and described. Measurements serve as evidence to support the theories that scientists propose. Thus, a scientific system of measurement must have reproducible standards, well-defined fundamental units, a range of measurements that can span from the minute to the infinite, and a logical progression between those units of measure. Of the many measurement systems developed in the world, the scientific community has adopted the Système Internationale (SI). Why is this the preferred measurement system in science?

SI is based on the Metric System. The Metric System is used by a majority of the nations in the world. There are seven fundamental units that have absolute standards based upon observable physical phenomena. Each unit can be made larger or smaller by means of prefixes that assign values based upon the decimal system. It is possible to make those units larger or smaller by using a prefix that corresponds to an appropriate power of ten. Thus, SI has reproducible standards, well-defined fundamental units, a flexible range of measurement, and a logical progression between the units of measure. For these reasons, SI is the measurement system used by the scientific community.

In the United States, an adaptation of the English measurement system is still commonly used. This system does make use of reproducible standards that are the responsibility of the federal Bureau of Weights and Measures. However, the progression between units is not predictable. For example, there are 12 inches in a foot, three feet in a yard, and 5,280 feet in a mile. The medieval Flemish system of measurement also demonstrates conversion ratio variability. The dry volume measurement of one viertel was equivalent to 4 meukens, 56 pots, 112 pintes, and 224 upers. The Flemish system had the additional disadvantage that the dry volume measurement for oats was different than that for other grains. Neither the English nor the Flemish systems of measurement meet the stringent demands for scientific measurement.

1.
Does the essay have a descriptive topic sentence? (Does the first sentence of the essay accurately introduce the subject of the entire essay?)

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
The first sentence is: "Measurement is extremely important to both everyday human interaction and to scientific research." This sentence introduces the idea that the topic of the essay is measurement, including the use of measurement in science.

2.
Are there several reasons given to support the use of SI in the scientific community?

None

Some (1 or 2)

Many (more than 2) - CORRECT

Feedback for students:
The second paragraph gives four reasons: "... reproducible standards, well-defined fundamental units, a flexible range of measurement, and a logical progression between the units of measure."

3.
Does the text mention the decimal arrangement of the SI units and the generation of new units within a measurement system?
A. Neither are mentioned.
B. Only one is mentioned.
C. Both are mentioned.

A

B

C - CORRECT

Feedback for students:
The text states "...prefixes assign values based upon the decimal system" and "It is possible to make those units larger or smaller by using a prefix that corresponds to an appropriate power of ten."

4.
Is the SI or Metric System identified as the measurement system currently used by most nations?

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
The essay specifically states that "The Metric System is used by a majority of nations in the world."

5.
Is there a specific description of the conversion factors for a fundamental measurement in the English system?

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
The conversion ratios between the units of length are discussed in the third paragraph. "...there are 12 inches in a foot, three feet in a yard, and 5,280 feet in a mile."

6.
Is the need for standard measures for business and for scientific purposes mentioned? A. Only business purposes are mentioned. B. Only scientific purposes are mentioned. C. Both business and scientific purposes are mentioned. D. Neither business nor scientific purposes are mentioned.

A

B

C - CORRECT

D

Feedback for students:
The first paragraph discusses the use of "specific measurement systems to make it easier for commercial transactions to take place..." and also describes the need within the scientific community for reproducible and well-defined measurements.

7.
Does the essay contain grammatical errors such as misspellings, punctuation faults, subject-verb agreement errors, sentence fragments or other errors such as undefined abbreviations?

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
The text is free of grammatical errors.

8.
Does the essay contain one or more complete sentences copied verbatim from the source material and, therefore, not in the author's own words? If Yes explain the location of the sentence(s) in both the essay and the article and assign the essay a rating of "1." If No type "none" for your explanation. The explanation is only required when you are reviewing your peers' essays.

Yes

No - CORRECT

Feedback for students:
The text does not plagiarize the source material.

9.
Does the essay present persuasive contrasts to argue against the use in science of a system other than the SI system? Include an explanation of your answer when you are reviewing your peers' essays.

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
The first paragraph presents the requirements that science and business have for a measurement system.

The second paragraph identifies those features in the SI system and the third paragraph shows the limitations of the English and Flemish systems.

10.
Is there an appropriate concluding sentence?

Yes

No - CORRECT

Feedback for students:
It is left to the reader to draw the conclusions based on the contrasting properties of the three systems presented in the second and third paragraphs.

11.
Rate this text.

10 Highest

9 - CORRECT

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1 Lowest

Feedback for students:
The text presents a logical argument in support of the SI system of measurement for scientific use. The lack of a concluding statement detracts from an otherwise well-written coherent essay.

SI is the system of measurement used by science for several reasons. SI is based upon the decimal system. Its seven fundamental units is well-defined standards. New units of measure can be created by using a prefix that goes with the right decimal place. These features of SI makes it easy to make comparisons between measures taken by different people, or to express the value of very large or very small measurements, and to convert units from one to another. The English system is not as conveneint to use for science. For example, the unit of length has units of inches, feet, and miles. The conversion factors for these units don't just have diffrent decimal places. Instead, you have to memorize that there are 12 inches in a foot, three feet in a yard, and 5,280 feet in a mile. The English system is the one used in the United States. The English system is not the only measurement system that is not ideal for scientific purposes. The medieval Flemish society had a measuring system that was even more worse than the English system. The volume measurement of one viertel was equivalent to 4 meukens, 56 pots, 112 pintes, and 224 upers. The measure of one viertel was also different based on the type of grain being measured. This is not acceptable for use in science. The SI is a much better choice.

Measurement is important to society in general. Measurement systems had to be developed because business need measurement to set prices. It is important that measures have a standard so that business can take place easily in many locations. It would be very difficult to conduct business if both sides did not have agreement on measures. Scientists require high standards of measurement because reproducibility is important to the nature of science. Scientists use a measurement system to confirm experimental results and to analyze trends. The ways in which measures are used in science set very high standards for a measuring system. Measurement systems that is acceptable for use is business may not have the right range and specificity for use in science. This is why SI is the best measurement system for science.

1.
Does the essay have a descriptive topic sentence? (Does the first sentence of the essay accurately introduce the subject of the entire essay?)

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
The first sentence is: "SI is the system of measurement used by science for several reasons."

2.
Are there several reasons given to support the use of SI in the scientific community?

None

Some (1 or 2)

Many (more than 2) - CORRECT

Feedback for students:
The first paragraph mentions that SI is preferred because it (1)"is based upon the decimal system" (easy conversion of units) (2) has "well-defined standards" (reproducibility), and (3) can be used "to express the value of very large or very small measurements" (flexible range).

3.
Does the text mention the decimal arrangement of the SI units and the generation of new units within a measurement system?
A. Neither are mentioned.
B. Only one is mentioned.
C. Both are mentioned.

A

B

C - CORRECT

Feedback for students:
The text states that "SI is based upon the decimal system." and that "New units of measure can be created by using a prefix that goes with the right decimal place."

4.
Is the SI or Metric System identified as the measurement system currently used by most nations?

Yes

No - CORRECT

Feedback for students:
There is no mention of the widespread use of the SI or metric system worldwide, other than in the context of the scientific community.

5.
Is there a specific description of the conversion factors for a fundamental measurement in the English system?

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
The conversions for units of length are discussed. "Instead you have to memorize that there are 12 inches in a foot, three feet in a yard, and 5,280 feet in a mile."

6.
Is the need for standard measures for business and for scientific purposes mentioned? A. Only business purposes are mentioned. B. Only scientific purposes are mentioned. C. Both business and scientific purposes are mentioned. D. Neither business nor scientific purposes are mentioned.

A

B

C - CORRECT

D

Feedback for students:
The second paragraph contains a thorough discussion of this subject.

7.
Does the essay contain grammatical errors such as misspellings, punctuation faults, subject-verb agreement errors, sentence fragments or other errors such as undefined abbreviations?

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
The essay has many grammatical errors, and the abbreviation SI is never explained.

8.
Does the essay contain one or more complete sentences copied verbatim from the source material and, therefore, not in the author's own words? If Yes explain the location of the sentence(s) in both the essay and the article and assign the essay a rating of "1." If No type "none" for your explanation. The explanation is only required when you are reviewing your peers' essays.

Yes

No - CORRECT

Feedback for students:
The essay does not include sentences from the source material.

9.
Does the essay present persuasive contrasts to argue against the use in science of a system other than the SI system? Include an explanation of your answer when you are reviewing your peers' essays.

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
In introducing the English system with the statement, "The English system is not as convenient to use for science," the author is building the contrast with the previous features identified in the SI system. A further contrast is introduced with the sentence, "The medieval Flemish society had a measuring system that was even more worse than the English system."

10.
Is there an appropriate concluding sentence?

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
The final sentence, "This is why SI is the best measurement system for science" attempts to summarize the two paragraphs. It is very weak.

11.
Rate this text.

10 Highest

9

8

7

6 - CORRECT

5

4

3

2

1 Lowest

Feedback for students:
The essay's content is good. The only important point that is omitted is the fact that the metric system is used widely throughout the world. The many grammatical and spelling errors mar the otherwise good content of the essay.
There are a number of verb tense errors: The phrase "...fundamental units is well-defined," should use the verb "are." The phrase "business need measurement to set prices," should have the verb "needs." The sentence "Measurement systems that is acceptable for use..." should use "are" for the verb.

Spelling errors occur that could have been detected by a spell checker: "Conveneint" should be spelled "convenient," and "diffrent" should be "different." Although they are not technically spelling errors, it is not appropriate to use contractions such as "don't" in formal writing.

In addition, the sentence "...Flemish society had a measuring system that was even more worse than the English system" uses comparatives incorre

Low-Quality Essay

Why is SI the preferred measurement system in science? To answer this question you have to compare the SI measurement system with at least one other measurement system.

Measurement isn't just used for science. It is important for trade among people. Governments have to decide on specific measurement systems to make it easier for trading to take place. Otherwise, people would never know how much of something they were actually buying and it would be hard to know what a good price for things would be. In science, measurement is used to assign values to use in experiments. Scientists explain things with measurements to help. But scientists need to have very precise measures. In the United States, the English measurement system is still commonly used. This system is understood by shoppers, but is not accurate enough for scientists. The conversions between units are not standardized, so you have to memorize a lot of random numbers to convert back and forth. It's not easy to do, so people usually don't convert English to Metric units and vice versa.

SI is based upon the Metric system. The Metric System is used by most other countries in the world. The fundamental units of measure are standards that are related to things in the world. Like the meter. The web site we went to says that "It is the distance light travels, in a vacuum, in 1/299792458th of a second." The other standards are the kilogram (length), second (time), ampere (elec. current), kelvin (temp), mole (substance) and candela (intensity). The fundamental units are expanded to larger and smaller units by adding a prefix. The prefixes are usually based upon Greek names. Some of them are easy to remember, like "kilo-" for 1000, but some of them are weird, like "yotta-" which means 1024. The prefixes makes it possible to express measures that are much larger or much smaller than you can even imagine. In science the atom is extremely tiny and the universe is too large to comprehend. Both the atom and the universe have to be measured and described and a measurement system must be good enough to give values to express these measures.

1.
Does the essay have a descriptive topic sentence? (Does the first sentence of the essay accurately introduce the subject of the entire essay?)

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
The first two sentences make up the topic sentence for this essay. They are: "Why is SI the preferred measurement system in science? To answer this question one must understand the importance of measurement not only in science, but society in general."

2.
Are there several reasons given to support the use of SI in the scientific community?

None

Some (1 or 2) - CORRECT

Many (more than 2)

Feedback for students:
The essay does not specifically state the reasons for using SI, but two characteristics are mentioned that support its use. The text indicates that this system uses reproducible standards ("The fundamental units of measure is [sic] standards that are related to things in the world") and that it has a flexible range of measurement ("The prefixes makes [sic] it possible to express measures that are much larger or much smaller than one could even imagine.")

3.
Does the text mention the decimal arrangement of the SI units and the generation of new units within a measurement system?
A. Neither are mentioned.
B. Only one is mentioned.
C. Both are mentioned.

A

B - CORRECT

C

Feedback for students:
There is no specific mention of the decimal nature of the SI or Metric systems. However, the generation of new units is mentioned in the sentence, "The fundamental units is expanded to large and smaller units by adding a prefix."

4.
Is the SI or Metric System identified as the measurement system currently used by most nations?

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
The text states that "The Metric System is used by most other countries in the world."

5.
Is there a specific description of the conversion factors for a fundamental measurement in the English system?

Yes

No - CORRECT

Feedback for students:
The text states only that "The conversions between units are not standardized, so you have to memorize a lot of random numbers to convert back and forth."

6.
Is the need for standard measures for business and for scientific purposes mentioned? A. Only business purposes are mentioned. B. Only scientific purposes are mentioned. C. Both business and scientific purposes are mentioned. D. Neither business nor scientific purposes are mentioned.

A

B

C - CORRECT

D

Feedback for students:
The second paragraph states that "Measurement isn't just used for science. It is important to trade among people. Governments have to decide on specific measurement systems to make it easier for trading to take place."

7.
Does the essay contain grammatical errors such as misspellings, punctuation faults, subject-verb agreement errors, sentence fragments or other errors such as undefined abbreviations?

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
The abbreviation "SI" is used and not defined or explained. Also, "elec." is used as an abbreviation for "electrical," and "temp." is used as an abbreviation for "temperature."

"Like the meter" is a sentence fragment.

8.
Does the essay contain one or more complete sentences copied verbatim from the source material and, therefore, not in the author's own words? If Yes explain the location of the sentence(s) in both the essay and the article and assign the essay a rating of "1." If No type "none" for your explanation. The explanation is only required when you are reviewing your peers' essays.

Yes

No - CORRECT

Feedback for students:
The essay appears to be in the author's own words.

9.
Does the essay present persuasive contrasts to argue against the use in science of a system other than the SI system? Include an explanation of your answer when you are reviewing your peers' essays.

Yes

No - CORRECT

Feedback for students:
Although the English system in use in the United States is mentioned in the first paragraph, there are no contrasts developed or comparisons made that argue for why the SI system is the preferred system for science.

10.
Is there an appropriate concluding sentence?

Yes - CORRECT

No

Feedback for students:
The final sentence summarizes general concepts that are included in this non-specific essay.

11.
Rate this text.

10 Highest

9

8

7

6

5

4

3 - CORRECT

2

1 Lowest

Feedback for students:
The essay has a compelling style but lacks a persuasive argument. The content in the essay is also sparse. The reasons for the use of SI in science are not specifically indicated, and some of the most important reasons are not included at all, such as the decimal nature of the system. No specifics are given on conversion between units in the English or Flemish systems, as prompted in the guiding questions. Instead of focusing on these points, the essay lists all of the fundamental units of the SI system, even though this does not contribute to making a point about the usefulness of the SI system.